Résumé
The use of phosphorus as a co-catalyst to sequentially grow carbon nanotubes units weakly linked together and periodically containing nanoparticle insertions was discussed. A growth mechanism where a kinetic mismatch between the carbon supply and consumption steps causes a periodic fluctuation of the carbon concentration in the catalyst particle and the subsequent growth of periodic nanostructures was proposed. The experimental results to verify the postulated mechanism governing the evolution of the nanotube's morphology during growth were presented. The existence of two growth regimes that depend on the reactant supply and size of the catalyst particle was also demonstrated.